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Learning
Module
HUMSS12 / Q1

Community Engagement, Solidarity,

and Citizenship

Prepared by: Ara C. De Castro

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Chapter 1: Concepts and Perspectives of Community

Community situation vary. Each community has its own

context and given realities. Those interested in working with a
community must first have a clear picture and good grasp of the
entity they are trying to address. It is in appreciating the features
and elements of a community, that engagement processes and
actions become relevant, acceptable and appropriate. Without a
deep and wide knowledge in one’s target community,
interventions may emerge as exclusive, inappropriate, or totally
insensitive to the people.

Inspirational stories about community and community

action like that of the Apo Island fishing village illustrate the
significance of the community as an indispensable part of everyday
life. It calls young people to be aware of community dynamics, analyze social realities and get engaged.

Understanding Community Dynamics

Provides Before undertaking any community action or community development
benchmarking data intervention, it is important to establish the benchmark data. The data
illustrates the preliminary picture or image of the community. It serves as the
initial community situations.
Provides preliminary To be able to produce a project design or project plan, it is necessary to secure
project planning community information and feedback that are necessary to secure community
information information and feedback that are necessary for conceptualization.
Understanding community dynamics is the key to a sound and relevant
community development plan.
Provides an idea of An in depth understanding of the community strengths as well as its challenges
the Community creates guides community project planners to identify the project designs’
Strengths and facilitating and hindering factors. Thus it will make the design more feasible
Challenges and realistic.

Provides opportunity They make or break of a community project more often than not is strongly
to seize community affected by the prevailing rules and norms in the community. The intensity or
dominant rules and degree of people’s reaction or sensitivities is affected by the rules and norms.
norms.
Gets project Without a good grasp of a community, project development and
implementation less implementation become complicated and stressful. An understanding of the
complicated community somehow gives an indication of what not to do or what to be more
concerned.

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Lesson 1: Learning About Communities

Learning about communities is a key to appreciating our daily interaction with others, as we locate
ourselves in a web of social connections. Being enmeshed in these connections constantly helps us
realize that we are part of a larger social group. We associate with social groups for many different
reasons why people come together, why they form relationship and bonds, and how these operate in
the boarder social setting makes us further appreciate the value of the meaningful actions and
contributions that we impart to our community. Moreover, understanding the dynamics within our
community aids as in responding to the collective challenges we face.
Different disciplines in the social sciences are devoted to deepen our understanding of communities,
community life, and community action. The social sciences such as anthropology, social psychology,
sociology, political science, public administration, human geography, linguistic, and developments
studies contribute in developing a rich and robust literature on community studies.
Sociology
For instance, generally looks into group formations, relationships, dynamics and interaction within a
social structure, and social action, Perspectives and approaches in sociology draw attention to a host of
analytical tools and methods which may help community members respond to the issues and problem
they encounter in the broader context of their institutional, social, and cultural environments.
Political Science
On the other hand, focus on power relations, authority, leadership, and decision making. The study of
politics incorporates approaches that allow the examination of the interplay of power between and
among different actors within and outside of communities.
Anthropology
It helps examine the emergent complexities from the history and culture of individuals and
communities. Anthropology is concerned, for example, with how community knowledge and practices
contribute in addressing issues and solving community problems.
Social Psychology
It refers to the branch of psychology that scientifically studies social behavior, specially the interaction
and influence of individuals and groups on each other.

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Activity 1

Make an illustrated map that describes your local community. Include in your map photos and
images that represent the people in your community. Draw arrows, lines, and symbols to show the
relationships between the people in your community.

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Processing Questions
1. What does the activity say about your idea of a community?
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.

2. Based on the activity, who makes up your community?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.

3. Do you see yourself as a part of this community? How do you say so?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________.

Quiz 1: Venn Diagram (25 pts.)

Instruction: Identify the similarities and difference between Sociology and Political Science.

Sociology Political Science

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Lesson 2: Defining Community

The word community, considered as a Late Middle English term, in derived from the Latin word
communitas which means fellowship. Its Latin roots, communis, means common. Com translate to
“with” or “together;” whereas munire translates to “to strengthen,” “to fortify,” or “to defend.”

There are various perspectives of community. Each perspective emphasizes a particular approach and
treatment in the study of communities. In the next section, four perspectives will be discussed: the
social sciences perspective, institutional perspective, civil society
perspective, and organic perspective.

Social Science Perspective

A social science perspective toward understanding communities

is premised on the social dimension of individual life such as the
interactions, relationships, and bonds formed by individuals with
other individuals and these are manifested in the formation of
organizations within communities. Learning about communities
using this perspective essentially incorporate ideas and concepts
gather from fields of knowledge, such as anthropology, social
psychology, sociology, and political science, to name a few. These
disciplines offer varied insights and lessons in understanding the
meaning and relevance of community.

Below are some general definitions of community using a social science perspective:

 An informally organized social entity characterized by a sense of identity;

 A group of people living in the same defined area, sharing common basic values, organization,
and interest;
 A population which is geographically focused existing as a unique social entity with a collective
identity and purpose; and
 A group of people with diverse characteristic, linked by social ties, forms and consolidated by
their collective aspirations, sharing and exchanging perspectives, and are collectively engaged to
do some concerted action in a geographical
location or setting.

Institutional Perspective

Communities have a mechanism for coordinating values,

goals and actions of its individual members. Social
institutions arise from voluntary share agreements
among individuals that generally also shape their
behavior as a collective.

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Institutions are established rules that ensure the regular and predictable behavior of actors within the
community. In broad terms, institutions are categorized as formal and informal. Formal institutions are
explicitly communicated, embodied in legally codified documents or artifacts. These serve as basis for
the authority to be executed or expressed. Examples of these are the laws and policies that are
implemented by a government agency or
office. Since institution regulate the behavior
of community members, having institution
also imply that, as a collective, a community
has a notion of what is normative.

Civil Society Perspective

The term civil society conventionally refers

to a political community of organized groups
operating within the authoritative
parameters of the state. From the view of
politics, it is distinguished from the stately
broadly refers to organizations that are
private, autonomous from the government, and which are in pursuit of advocacies, causes, and goals. It
is an aggregate of active groups and associations, such as businesses, organized interest groups, and
clubs.

Non-government organizations (NGO’s) and People’s Organization (PO’s) are common examples of civil
society organizations. These organizations actively pursue political and social development goals
through variety of actions and strategies. A fundamental characteristic of these organizations is the
voluntary nature of its membership, with emphasis on citizen participation. In most cases, the goals and
strategies of NGO’s and PO’s complement with those of the state, NGO’s and Po’s are presumed to work
in partnership with the state in cooperative mode to address societal problems in the areas of
environmental protection, social welfare, the promotion of human rights and civil liberties, and local
development, among others.

PO’s are independent, autonomous entities, officially registered and acknowledged as organizations
according to the rules and standards set by the state.

Organic Perspective

An organic perspective of community refers to local or

grassroots groups within a particular locale that are driven and
organized because of community issues and concerns. They
referred to as “grassroots” because of their local and capacity
building characteristics. It is generally conceptualized as the
formation of neighborhood organizations, rural or urban,

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convened to pursue local development goals or address particular issues, such as crime prevention,
environment protection, or waste management.

Grassroots Organizations or Movements

The initiatives and actions of local volunteers are instrumental in establishing said organization.
Sociologists argue that grassroots organizations are exemplars of the ability of communities to
sophisticate their associational capacities through self-organization. Historically, grassroots
organizations and movements have also been instrumental in political formation.

Activity: Photo Collage (25 pts.)

Instruction: Make a collage that symbolizes the different perspective about community.

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Quiz 2: Essay (3-5 sentences)

Instruction: Answer the questions concisely and it should not be exceeded to five sentences.

1. Can you consider your school to be a community? Explain your answer briefly.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.

2. Differentiate Non-government organizations and People’s organizations? Justify your answer.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.

3. As a student, how will you show the importance of solidarity in a community where you belong?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.

4. If you will have a chance to have your own organization that deals with the community, how will
you organized it to make a change with the community where you belong?

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.

5. Make your own definition of Community.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.

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Lesson 3: Structural Dimensions of a Community

Understanding communities require that we examine its structure and dynamics. By structure, we refer
to the attributes and characteristics of the relations of the component parts of a community. An
examination of the dynamics of a community requires a look into the exchanges, interactions, and
changes of a community across time. Learning about different dimensions and how these interact,
allows us to depart from a static view of communities toward one that will help us explain how
communities change and develop. There are four structural dimensions that lend insight in
understanding the dynamics and development of a community such as geographic, socio-political,
economic, and cultural.

Geographic Dimension

The geographic dimension in a community focuses on how a community is shaped by the physical space
it uses and the location of its resources- human, natural, and technological.

Each community has a specific and geographic system where interaction between and among its
inhabitants occur. Institutions regulate these spaces as legal jurisdictions. Goods and information also
circulate within geographic systems. It also has a political-administrative character, since geographic
systems are characterized by zones and boundaries that are either natural or defined by the rules of the
community. An examination of a community’s geographic system would typically start by looking at the
scope and limit of its territory, distribution of its population, and the location of its resources.

Socio-Political Dimension

Socio-political dimension refers to the relationships of power and control between individuals and
groups in a community. Political leadership, whether formal or informal, and how it is accepted and
sustained by community members are important factors that help analyze the quality and processes of
decision-making in the community. Accountability, legitimacy, and participation are critical issues
related to political leadership. Knowing the socio-political system of communities also helps in in
characterizing the relationship between satisfied groups and extent of their dominance and
marginalization.

Economic Dimension

Economic dimension refers to the means by which member of community allocate, produce, and
distribute scarce resources to address their wants and needs. It is the aspect of community that is
concerned with how exchange value is created and what systems of exchange occur within a
community.

Cultural Dimension

In its broadest sense, culture refers to the people’s way of life. It encompasses the value and beliefs that
are passed on from one generation to another. It embodies the collective sense of a people and what
matters to them as a community, such as their relationships, memories experiences, backgrounds,

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hopes, and dreams, amidst their individual diversities. More importantly, the culture of a community
expresses their vision of the future and what they intend to pass to the next generation.

Activity: Concept Mapping

Instruction: Make a concept map regarding the structural Dimensions of a Community.

Lesson 4: Community Dynamics and Processes

The dominant analytical approaches in studying community dynamics and processes focus on
community power relations, leadership, and social change. There are two kinds of power structures in a
community: formal and informal. The formal power structure form the legal-authoritative basis of
elected and appointed government officials and leaders of civic organizations. Informal power structure,
on the other hand, exist alongside the formal-institutional power structure; it is harder to empirically
identify, but is an equally significant factor in a community’s development.

Legal-authoritative decision-makers are individuals or bodies whose authority in based on formal rules
and institution. City mayors, legislative council members, and barangay captains are examples of legal-
authoritative decision-makers in Philippine communities.

Influencers, on the other hand, are individuals or groups who do not have direct authority, but are
capable of shaping decision that affect the community. Influencers can propose, pressure, and affect
decision made by local-authoritative decision-makers according to their interests or agenda.

Leadership- In the context of community, leadership refers to the processes and qualities of
command and decisiveness with regard to the necessary actions that ensure the welfare of the
community. Community leaders are individuals selected, nominated, and appointed as stewards,
vanguards, and champion of issues relevant to a community.

Social Change- In the community, social change may be observed when there is a significant and
observable difference between past and current conditions in community life. Social change is said to
occur, for instance, when there is an observable rise in education and literacy in a community.

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Activity: Reaction Paper Answer:

Instruction: Make a reflection about the portray symbol.

Quiz 3: Matching Type

Instruction: Instruction: Match Column A with Column B. Write the letter of the correct answer on the
blank provided.

Column A Column B
_____1. Process and qualities of command a. geographic dimension
_____2. Capable of shaping decisions in community b. socio-political dimension
_____3. Form the legal authoritative basis c. economic dimension
_____4. Exist alongside the formal institution d. culture
_____5. Individuals or bodies whose authority is based
e. formal power structure
on formal rules.
f. informal power structure
_____6. People’s way of life
g. leadership
_____7. Community allocate, produce and distribute
scarce resources h. legal-authoritative
_____8. Relationship of power and control i. influencers
_____9. Shaped by the physical space j. community leaders
_____10. Individuals selected, nominated and appointed

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Lesson 5: Typologies of Community

Communities may be categorized into different types. Below are some mainstream typologies of
communities.
The formal-informal typology emphasize leadership and power relations in the community.
Formal communities are characterized by institutionally structured hierarchies, which define the
relationship between authoritative and subordinate actors and groups. Communities that are typified
through these features are driven by institution, which not only show the location of power
relationships, but also assign community members their specific roles and functions.
Informal communities are said to be generally less rigid compared to formal communities.
Informal communities are seen to typically operate through socio-cultural mechanism within the
community structure.
The local-global typology focuses
on the scope and breadth of communities
with respect to its geographic dimensions
and the reach of its other dimensions (e.g.
economic, socio-political, and cultural).
Whereas as a local community is a
group of individuals interacting within a
shared environment, a global community
stretches beyond the frontier of a local
community, transcending national,
supranational, and regional demarcations.
Global communities are not constrained by
geographic boundaries. They consist of
individuals and groups who share values,
beliefs, preferences, needs, risk, interest,
identities, and other attributes beyond
physical, cultural, and politico-geographic
borders.
The rural-urban typology of communities is based on the distinction in terms of development,
industrialization, ecological conditions and lifestyle. Rural communities are characterized as pastoral,
agricultural, and located are along the periphery of urban centers or in the countryside.
Urban communities are described as industrialized and commercial centers where population
density is relatively high compared to rural communities. Urban community are also sketched as
technological, modern, and cosmopolitan.
The community sector is a broad set of community-based organizations that voluntarily and
autonomously function beyond a government or state. It is comprised of individuals and groups whose
purpose for organizing may be social, political, economic, cultural, or religious.
Community-based organizations act within the confines of a set of institutional arrangements.
The organizations do not necessarily operate within a locale but may also extend beyond national
boarders and project its presence in regional, international, and global bodies. Their transnational
character allows them to network with organizations beyond the domestic realm.

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FUNCTIONS OF A COMMUNITY
Table 1.1 Shows the five important function that community perform.
Function Explanation
Production-Distribution- Communities provide its members livelihood through the use of its
Consumption resources(e.g. land, industry, services) and the system of exchange
embedded therein such as trade and commerce
Socialization Communities have processes that shape social behavior by
instilling to its members norms, values, knowledge, skills, and
attitude. This is done through mechanism of transference, such as
child rearing, education, traditions and practices.
Social control Mechanisms within communities such as social pressure or formal
institution, regulate the conduct and behavior of community
members.
Social Participation Communities thrive through the association and involvement of its
members. These are exemplified in the groups and organizations
within communities such as religious associations, business, and
neighborhoods.
Mutual Support Communities offer its members interaction that encourage
cooperation and solidarity

Activity: Stairs of Knowledge

Instruction: Make your own organization that will help the progress of a community where you belong.

Output

Organization

Taglines

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Quiz 4: Fill in the blanks.

formal communities rural communities

informal communities urban communities community sector

local-global typology socialization mutual support

local community social control

global community social participation

_________________1. Shape social behavior by instilling to its members norms, values, knowledge,
skills, and attitude.

_________________2. Communities offer its members interaction that encourage cooperation and
solidarity.

_________________3. Communities thrive through the association and involvement of its members.

_________________4. Sketched as technological, modern, and cosmopolitan.

_________________5. Characterized as pastoral, agricultural, and located are along the periphery of
urban centers or in the countryside.
_________________6. Focuses on the scope and breadth of communities with respect to its geographic
dimensions.

_________________7. The relationship between authoritative and subordinate actors and groups.

_________________8. Seen to typically operate through socio-cultural mechanism within the

community structure.
_________________9. A broad set of community-based organizations that voluntarily and
autonomously function beyond a government or state.
_________________10. Stretches beyond the frontier of a local community, transcending national,
supranational, and regional demarcations.

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Chapter 2: Community Engagement

Engagement is not generally driven by a ‘model’ so much as by a framework of guiding principles,

strategies, and approaches.  This framework is based on principles that respect the right of all
community members to be informed, consulted, involved and empowered.  Community engagement
employs and range of tools and strategies to ensure success.  It also places a premium on fostering and
enhancing trust as a critical element in long-term, sustainable engagement and effective governance.

The word 'community' is also a broad term used to define groups of people, whether they are
stakeholders, interest groups, or citizen groups. A community may be a geographic location (community
of place), a community of similar interest (community of practice), or a community of affiliation or
identity such as industry or sporting club.

Lesson 6: Community Action and Community Development

Community engagement is expressed through community action, that is, a collective action by a
community for the purposes of arresting a crisis, addressing a challenge, solving a problem, or
accomplishing a specific outcome. Consultation, education, public participation, and partnership building
with government agencies are some examples of community action.

COMMUNITY ACTION IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES PERSPECTIVE

Every social science discipline emphasizes a particular view towards collective action. For instance, from
the perspective of sociology, collective action points towards the capacity of communities to act and
behave as a social unit. It places emphasis interventions for forging strengthening interrelationships

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among individuals within a community. Sociology examines how

a community collectively identifies their problems, decide on the
course of action, assess whether or not their actions have led to
their well-being.

On the other hand, an anthropological perspective lends insight

to the local history and culture of a community as factors of
community action. Anthropology puts forward the view that
solutions to community. This perspective implies that the most
valid source of community action is the community itself. The
way communities assess their needs, issues, and problems
depend on their context.

Political science emphasizes the realities of power-

sharing and decision-making. A political science perspective aids in the examination of the interaction
between interest groups within and outside the community, as they express and mobilize advocacies,
values, beliefs, and resources for specific interests. It draws attention towards how these shape social
interaction, the formation of alliances, the prospects of competition and conflict in the process of
decision-making, and the general power structure in the community.

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

When community members engage in collective action, people are empowered, problems are solved,
social change occurs, and community development are said to take place. Community development is
both a process and a product. As a product, Maser (1997) defines community development as the
capacity of the people to work together to address their common interests.” As a process, it requires an
integrative approach to systematically assess the problem, capacitate the community, and solve a
problem.

The process of community development has the following characteristics:

It involves participation from a big segment of community;

It is participated by well inform members;
It results to decision made through a consensus among community members;
It encourages group building, leadership development, and capacity building among community
members (process objective), while addressing the issue at hand (product objective);
It uses a systematic approach in addressing local concerns;
It uses process that are flexible and may be applied to other community concern and
It is initiated often as a result of a potential or local perceived crisis.

Domestically, communities and organizations from all around the Philippines also extended their
support by raising funds, donations, and supplies for the thousands of Filipinos in the typhoon stricken
areas. Different civil society organizations, religious organizations, businesses, and youth, and school
groups conducted charity and donation drives to help the victims of the typhoon.

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Lesson 7: Individual Dimension of a Community

INDIVIDUAL AND THE COMMUNITY

As individuals, we create situations and opportunities that allow us to interact with one another and
form social relationships and groups within a community. Our relations and human connection are
shaped by the places and meaningful spaces where we exist. The knowledge, interests, identities, and
meanings we share with one another also affect our interactions. Interrelationships and organizations
are mediating elements that connect an individual with the community.

INTERRELATIONSHIP

Individuals associate with other individuals through their commonalities in attributes, sentiments,
histories, and experiences. These associations are referred to as interrelationships. Interrelationships
can be facilitated through the familial relations, affinities or feelings of kinship, and social networks.

Families and family networks have figured as a

dominant aspect of Filipino communities.
Interrelationships in communities are said to have
typically evolved through networks of blood
relations and affinities, or what is known as the
Filipino “extended family.” One prominent social
scientist, Alfred McCoy, conducted a study on the
role of the family in the socio-political and
historical development in the Philippines. In his
study, “An Anarchy of Families: State and family in
the Philippines”, McCoy emphasized how families
play an essential role in the development of
Philippine society, its culture and politics. He
articulated that community relations are essentially defined by the relations between and among
families. Families and clans play an active role in the cultural, economic, and political aspects of Filipino
community life.

There are also circumstances when interrelationships and social connections are formed and
deepened because people find themselves confronted with various issues and problems. When
individuals find themselves in challenging predicaments such as natural disasters and famine, they come
together and join their capacities and efforts in pursuit of common goals or common interests. It is this
“thinking beyond the self” and the sense of community that make people come together and address
the issues and problems they commonly confront.

ORGANIZATIONS

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Interconnected individuals strengthen their bonds and form organizations. Each individual takes on a set
of roles of task in organizations in pursuit of goals and interest. Organization structures vary in form.
Examples of these are associations, clubs, and local government agencies.

Organizations serve as initiator of

community action. They are also considered
instrumental in operationalizing the goals,
objectives, and interests of the community. Since
organizations are purposefully created and
structured to perform several functions and
tasks, their actions shape the condition and lives
of community members.

They are also civil society organizations

which advocate for greater representation, public
accountability, and citizen participation to ensure

the effective delivery of social services. An example of which is the Affiliated Network for Social
Accountability (ANSA-EAP)

Quiz 5: Modified True or False (2pts. Each)

Instruction: Write your NICKNAME if the statement is correct and if the statement is incorrect,
underlined the word that makes it wrong and write the correct answer.

_______________1. Organizations serve as initiator of community action. They are also considered
instrumental in operationalizing the goals, objectives, and interests of the country.

_______________2. Adam Smith emphasized how families play an essential role in the development of
Philippine society, its culture and politics.

_______________3. Interrelationships and organizations are mediating elements that connect an

individual with the community.

_______________4. . Organization takes on a set of roles of task in organizations in pursuit of goals and
interest.

_______________5. Families and family networks have figured as a dominant aspect of Filipino
economy.

Lesson 8: Community Engagement Defined

Community engagement refers to “the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of
people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues
affecting the well-bring of those people” (CDC 1997).

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Community engagement becomes possible through social trust, cooperation, functional

coalitions, and effective partnerships. Community
engagement is a vehicle to affect societal changes because
it mobilize resources, influence systems, and strengthens
social relationships.

A core component of community engagement is

solidarity.

Solidarity refers to the “idea of unity or feeling of

agreement among individuals with a common interest.” It
is an overarching sentiment of mutual support, trust, and
harmony among individuals within a group. Through
solidarity, community members deepen their
responsibilities and roles, in light of their collective
interests. In effect, it stimulates a sense of obligation
among individuals in a group to pursue the objective and goals of the community and to protect and to
promote the interest of a community through some agreed social action. Therefore, solidarity is the
adhesive that strengthen the links among people in a community. Without solidarity, members of a
community tend to act individually, disunited, and stop from collectively engaging each other.

When solidarity – that sense of togetherness, unity or the agreement between an individual and
the group – materializes, the need for mechanisms and guidelines emerge in order to formally define
the roles and responsibilities in a community.

Guidelines that establish the relationship between an individual and the community, their duties and
responsibilities, as well as the behavior, attitude and actions expected from an individual, constitute
citizenship. The quality of these “building blocks” lends insight to the concern and participation
extended by an individual to a community. Broadly citizenship characterized between a citizen and
political community. This is indicated by a citizen’s involvement in state affairs, with respect to its
economic and social processes, institution, laws, rights, and responsibilities. Institutionally, citizenship
confers the rights and duties of an individual as a member of a political community.

Based on the conceptualization of citizenship, we can say that as citizens, just as we have rights,
we also have duties and responsibilities to the community, whether it can be a traditional state or a
community with specific goals and purposes. A good and responsible citizen, therefore, is one who
contributes to the community’s well-being though community engagement.

Citizenship is a relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes
allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection. Citizenship implies the status of freedom with
accompanying responsibilities. Citizens have certain rights, duties, and responsibilities that are denied or
only partially extended to aliens and other noncitizens residing in a country. In general, full political
rights, including the right to vote and to hold public office, are predicated upon citizenship. The usual
responsibilities of citizenship are allegiance, taxation, and military service.

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T.R. Alvarez Subd. Brgy, Del Carmen, Pagbilao, Quezon
Tel No.: (042)797 1692 Email: [Link]@[Link]

Activity 2: HUMAN CHAIN

Instruction: While the students raising their hand each of them should say a word regarding the word
solidarity and citizenship.

Lesson 9: Issues and Problems of Communities

What is a community issue? An issue is a subject matter that people argue about or discuss. These are
concerns that warrant attention of people and, in the case of community, a topic of collective discussion
and decision-making. A community is constantly exposed to a host of issues. Examples of community
issues are youth development, community health, waste disposal, public safety and security, and
livelihood, among other subject matters.

In discussing community issues, it is important to choose what issue should be given more
attention. This means that, while all community issues may be treated as equally important, prioritizing
which issue should be given more attention becomes a function of social interaction, politics and
decision making. In short, some members would rather talk about the environment, while others, would
rather focus on security. Similarly, some more focus on the public safety, while others prefer to talk
about community livelihood. At the level of issues, individual and groups within a community propose,
compete and negotiate which issues in the agenda of community planning and action should be given
greater attention and priority.

On the other hand, community problems are conditions or qualifications of issues that are
undesired by members of a community. Consequently, the presence and spread of typhoid or malaria

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T.R. Alvarez Subd. Brgy, Del Carmen, Pagbilao, Quezon
Tel No.: (042)797 1692 Email: [Link]@[Link]

across parts of a community are considered community health problems. Another example is the issue
of community employment. In this regard, unemployment is considered a problem, as opposed to full
employment and livelihood, which are preferred conditions of the community. Finally, another
community issue is waste disposal systems instead of poorly managed or inefficient waste disposal
systems, as this problem has adverse effects on
community health and safety.

Unemployment is a term referring to individuals

who are employable and seeking a job but
unable to find a job. Furthermore, it is those
people in the workforce or pool of people who
are available for work that does not have an
appropriate job. Usually measured by the
unemployment rate, which is dividing the
number of unemployed people by the total
number of people in the workforce,
unemployment serves as one of the indicators of
an economy’s status. Table 2.1 further specifies the characteristics of a community problem.

Table 2.1 Characteristics of a Community Problem

Impact It has a direct and adverse impact on a community

Duration It frequently occurs
Scope and range It affects many people within the community and those in proximal areas
Severity It disrupts community life
Equity It deprives people of moral and legal rights
Perception It is perceived as a problem by the community

Attention should be drawn specifically to the

marginalized and vulnerable groups. Examples of
these are those residing in areas where high
poverty incidence is concentrated. Communities
belong to these groups are commonly beset with
problems, such as high incidence, of hunger,
dilapidated sanitation and drinking systems,
poor housing conditions, and a poor state of
community health. These structural problems
forced marginalized communities live under
hazardous and precarious conditions, where the
quality of life is very low and basic social services
are unavailable. Needless to say, help and

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T.R. Alvarez Subd. Brgy, Del Carmen, Pagbilao, Quezon
Tel No.: (042)797 1692 Email: [Link]@[Link]

assistance can be extended to communities experiencing these conditions through interventions that
will initiate community development efforts that will help improve their well-being.

A good example that shows how a community

problem is addressed or solved in urban
Philippines is the case of Payatas in Quezon City.
40 years ago, Payatas was high risk garbage
dumpsite, populated by settlers who collected
trash and traded junk as a means of livelihood.
Through the concerted efforts of the local
government, civil society organizations, the
private sector, people’s organizations, and the
community of Payatas, the community has
uplifted itself from its former condition of grave
poverty and poor state. The community now
enjoys improved essential social services and systems, such as infrastructure, waste disposal, and even a
vibrant local governance movement.

FINAL OUTPUT: COMMUNITY PROGRESSION

Instruction:

Each student would choose their own topic in making the video clip regarding the
community progression.
Each student should make a video clip that shows the development of a community where
they resided.
The video clip should only 3-5 minutes.
The result should be shown.
The reflection must be visible in the video clip.

23
CVE Colleges, Inc.
T.R. Alvarez Subd. Brgy, Del Carmen, Pagbilao, Quezon
Tel No.: (042)797 1692 Email: [Link]@[Link]

Criteria:

Content: 40 points

Cinematography: 30 points

Audience Impact: 20 points

Originality: 10 points

_____________________

Total: 100 points

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CVE Colleges, Inc.
T.R. Alvarez Subd. Brgy, Del Carmen, Pagbilao, Quezon
Tel No.: (042)797 1692 Email: [Link]@[Link]

Bibliography
Jalton G. Taguibao, Francis Ron C. De Guzman. Community Engagement, Solidarity, and Citizenship. Vibal
Group, Inc. 1253 G. Araneta Avenue, Quezon, City.

Ma. Lourdes F. Melegrito, PhD Cand. Diana J. Mendoza, PhD. Zeal For Action, Community Engagement,
Solidarity, and Citizenship

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